Calls for law reform after couple found not guilty for abortion

MARK COLVIN: The couple at the centre of a landmark abortion case in far north Queensland have been found not guilty.

Twenty-one-year-old Tegan Leach is the first woman in Queensland to go on trial for procuring her own abortion.

Her 22-year-old partner Sergie Brennan was charged with unlawfully supplying drugs to procure an abortion.

The outcome of the trial has relaunched arguments to decriminalise abortion in Queensland.

Stephanie Smail reports.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: Cheers and applause greeted Tegan Leach and Sergie Brennan as they left the Cairns District Court this afternoon.

(Crowd cheering and applause)

STEPHANIE SMAIL: The couple were charged last year when police found abortion drugs including RU-486 during a search of their home.

Today it took the jury less than an hour to reach a unanimous verdict of not guilty.

The trial has sparked calls for Queensland's abortion laws to be overhauled.

Obstetrician Caroline D'Costa was one of the first Australian doctors to prescribe the abortion drug RU-486 to patients.

She says the couple should never have faced criminal charges and the outcome of the trial is a sign the law should be changed.

CAROLINE D'COSTA: I believe that the fact that they've been found not guilty is a very clear demonstration that the people of Queensland do not think these laws are appropriate in the 21st century.

Twelve citizens of Cairns in the jury have carefully considered the matter and come to the conclusion that this law is not applicable to what happened and I believe we can generalise from that and say that it is not applicable to the practice of abortion in Australia today.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: It's illegal to have an abortion in Queensland unless there is a serious risk to a woman's physical or mental wellbeing.

The Premier Anna Bligh says that's unlikely to change.

She used the social networking site Twitter today to say she 'supports the decriminalisation of abortion, but the majority of MPs do not, and a law change requires that majority'.

The anti-abortion movement in Queensland says the State Government should fund an independent body to offer better counselling for women dealing with unplanned pregnancies.

Teresa Martin from Cherish Life Queensland.

TERESA MARTIN: They need to be shown firstly what is being aborted. They need to have it explained to them as you would with any other operation how an abortion is done and as with any other operation they need to be told what are the possible consequences of that operation.

That we know for a fact is something that is not happening for a lot of these women.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: Teresa Martin says the Government should be reducing abortion numbers, rather than worrying about legislation.

TERESA MARTIN: Any form of abortion is not helpful to a woman. It does do something to her spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally even if she may not realise those outputs and consequences immediately.

I don't see how, when we already have 14,000 abortions inverted commas 'legally' here in Queensland at the moment, how many abortions will be enough for the pro-abortion lobby?

STEPHANIE SMAIL: But obstetrician Caroline D'Costa argues the Premier must take action, because the legislation makes it too easy for young couples to face criminal charges over a health issue.

CAROLINE D'COSTA: I would suggest very strongly that what she do is send this very old legislation to the Law Reform Commission, explain clearly to the people of Queensland why she is doing it; because it is out of date, it is out of date with what people think, it is out of date with modern abortion practice, it is out of date the legislation in virtually every other jurisdiction in Australia.